HRH The Duke Of Kent Visits QinetiQ In Malvern

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Earlier today His Royal Highness, The Duke of Kent toured the QinetiQ facility at Malvern and presented campaign medals to three employees for their services in Afghanistan.

HRH The Duke of Kent was welcomed to the site by Mr Adam Palser, the Managing Director of Technical and Information Services.

He was introduced to members of staff before going on to present Operational Service Medals to QinetiQ staff members Tony Luckhurst, Andy Garton, and Kieran Farrell for their work in the Persistent Wide Area Surveillance (PWAS) programme, which was contracted by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory Research Programme and programme managed by DE&S Programmes and Technology Group.

The programme has been trialling new equipment and procedures for surveillance in Afghanistan and this led to QinetiQ staff being in two Forward Operating Bases in theatre over the summer to support a military evaluation of the equipment and develop new tactics, techniques and procedures.

As Contractors on Deployed Operations (CONDO), this has involved considerable risk to the individuals concerned, as well as a heavy responsibility to ensure that the trial was carried out successfully.

Tony Luckhurst led the CONDO team and was the point of contact for military liaison. Tony’s background ensured that he was able to communicate effectively with the Forward Operating Base military personnel and ensured that the equipment was put through its paces in a structured way.

Andy Garton had special responsibilities for one of the Forward Operating Bases and has a background in military logistics. His aptitude with hardware contributed towards the successful conducting of the trial.

Kieran Farrell is a Systems Engineer with a background in surveillance systems. His knowledge, experience and can-do attitude made him an extremely useful member of the CONDO team.

Two further members of staff; Jason Twist and David Beel, who had already received their Operational Service Medals for Afghanistan at an earlier date, were also presented to His Royal Highness.

Jason Twist specialises in software, and was the expert in theatre for this part of the PWAS system. His experience and knowledge helped ensure that the software ran smoothly throughout the trial.

David Beel had special responsibilities as the IT system manager, and his comprehensive knowledge of the IT hardware and software build, and his background in building and maintaining complex IT systems was vital to the successful conduct of the trial.

The presentations were watched by members of their families especially invited along to the event.

Malvern Technology Centre is one of QinetiQ's core sites. The site currently accommodates approximately 1000 staff, the majority from Technical and Information Services business . The site specialises in information security, communications, sensors and signal processing, and electronics research with supporting laboratories and facilities.

The medal presentations were followed by a lunch and a tour of the site hosted by Mr Palser.

Dr. Adam Palser said after the event

“I was absolutely delighted to welcome His Royal Highness to our site and very proud to be able to present members of the CONDO team to him to receive their medals. All the QinetiQ staff concerned demonstrated an extremely professional attitude in carrying out these duties, leading to a very successful trial and the safe return of all the CONDO team.

“We were also able to show him our facilities and activities in the Technical Showcase, and demonstrate our long heritage with the area.”

Photographs from the visit are available upon request.

Notes for Editors:

A FTSE250 company, QinetiQ uses its domain knowledge to provide technical support and know-how to customers in the global aerospace, defence and security markets. QinetiQ's unique position enables it to be a trusted partner to government organisations, predominantly in the UK and the US, including defence departments, intelligence services and security agencies.

The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) maximises the impact of science and technology (S&T) for the defence and security of the UK. It supplies sensitive and specialist S&T services for the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and wider government, and leads and undertakes those activities that it would be inappropriate to carry out in the private sector. Dstl is a trading fund of the MOD and is run on commercial lines. It has a turnover of some £550 million much of which is spent in industry and academia. Dstl is the largest scientific organisation within government, with around 3,500 scientists, technologists and engineers.